Critically-ill Musharraf likely to be brought back from UAE in Pak Army air ambulance: Report

Pakistan’s ex-military dictator General Pervez Musharraf, who is in a UAE hospital in a critical condition with no possibility of recovery, may be brought back to the country in an air ambulance as the Army stands by its former chief, a media report said on Tuesday.Gen. Musharraf, 78, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, was charged with high treason and given a death sentence in 2019 for suspending the Constitution. His death sentence was later suspended.The powerful military establishment has offered the family of the former president that it can facilitate the return of Gen. Musharraf if it wishes, Dunya TV reported.

“The military contacted the family of Gen. Musharraf and offered its help in his treatment and bringing him back home,” it said.He may be brought back to the country in an air ambulance, the report said.“All arrangements to bring Gen. Musharraf back to Pakistan (are) being made after family’s consent and doctors’ advice. This includes the air ambulance… The institution (of the Army) stands by its ex-chief,” TV anchor Kamran Shahid said in a tweet.Gen Musharraf has been hospitalised for the last three weeks due to a complication of his ailment (Amyloidosis). (He is) Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” his family said in a statement on Friday.Amyloidosis is a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with the normal function.He was diagnosed with the life-threatening disease Amyloidosis in 2018 in the UAE.Gen. Musharraf had left for Dubai in March 2016 for medical treatment and has not returned since.He was declared a fugitive in the assassination case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the Red Mosque cleric killing case.